


nostalgia/ultimate

by boychic



Series: channel green [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Drugs, Frank Ocean - Freeform, Lots of brotherly bonding, Not Incest, Physical Abuse, Shimada Brothers, Texting, Violence, Yakuza, Young Genji, Young Genji Shimada, Young Hanzo, Young Hanzo Shimada, lyrics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 01:15:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11243241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boychic/pseuds/boychic
Summary: Genji knows long before it happens that he will be forgotten by his family and discarded like so much refuse.





	nostalgia/ultimate

**Author's Note:**

> suggested listening for this chapter: lens by frank ocean, biking by frank ocean.
> 
> all of the lyrics are frank ocean lyrics! unbeta'd, further editing likely

**15.**

The Elders say the mark of the dragon on his back is an ill omen. He can never see the reminder of his duty to his clan. It will be easy to hide, and easy for him to ignore.

Genji is happy to fulfill their 'prophesy', content to live as normally as he can. He just wants to smoke a bowl and play Siege Mode 3 down at the arcade after his training. The 'family business' is too abstract an idea for him to focus on and adulthood seems ages away.

Hanzo wears his duty and dedication to the Shimada clan on his sleeve. There never seems to be a moment when he isn’t thinking about how to best serve the clan and makes sacrifices no eighteen-year-old should have to for their family. The dragons are always communicating their desires to him and he has no difficulty calling on them when he needs help.

 

Genji's dragon doesn't feel like a guide or friend. The dragon, claws splayed out against his spine and scales winding down his back, feels more like a parasite than a companion. The shared thoughts and the occasional raw urge are always unwelcome.

No one in the family ever gave him the same answer about the origins or nature of the dragons, save for them being spirits of some sort. That description left a lot of room for interpretation. Were they concentration of the will of the host? A spirit possessed of its own desires? The conglomerate spirits of his ancestors? The last option seemed the most appealing, especially after losing both grandparents and his mother in the last eight years. Nothing about whispers from his subconscious or the wiles of some wild spirit sounded as comforting.

_(i feel their smiles on me)_

Genji always wondered if the family he had lost could see him, going about his day: training, spending time at the arcade, getting out of the shower. It was the best option but it would mean all his wrongdoings ( _got some sins on me)_  and private moments were under the lens of those same people.

_(spirits watch me pants down,_

_can't be 'barrassed of it)_

He hoped they had the decency to look away, if that was the case.

_( got a lens on me right now,)_

Genji takes his concerns to his father one night over dinner. Father is predictably long winded, abandoning his dinner to tell a story. At the end of it he has to be reminded of the question asked, but he does give Genji a satisfactory answer:

"I cannot claim to know the true nature of the dragons, but they have a will of their own that they will make known. They will do what you truly want them to do. If you want them to destroy your enemies, they will. If you want you dragon to sit idle it will rarely bother you."

His father was right: His dragon rarely made itself known to him when he asked it to quiet itself. The dragon became as easy to ignore as the rest of his unwelcome burdens.

 

**15.**

Five years after the accident, Hanzo still goes to physical therapy instead of his lessons on Thursday mornings.

Genji recalls a brief period of time when he is under the close scrutiny of the Elders, being considered for the heirship. Only one marked by the dragon can lead the clan, and he is their only other option. Even when he is very young they find Genji unsuitable for the task. But Hanzo is more than capable and  _nothing_  will stop him from claiming his birthright.

They don’t talk about mother often, not after losing her in the same accident. Sakura and Sojiro had been partners in crime for as long as anyone could remember and theirs had not been an unhappy union. She had a sense of humor everyone compared to his own and had been marked with red dragons to match his father's. When Genji brings her up he sees his father, his oft composed and powerful father  _hurt_.

Hanzo ties back his hair with her favorite ribbon ( _gold silk, seigaiha waves_ ) in difficult times.

 

**15.**

From the moment he can put both feet on the ground and hold a sword he trains. He toils under the midday sun in his village on the hill, learning to scale buildings and more ways to kill than anyone could possibly need. He hopes he never does.

To train is nothing for Hanzo, a natural at everything Genji struggles with. He lives to fight ( _to kill_ , his dragon warns, unwelcome) and teaches him more gently and attentively than any of their tutors. Genji doesn’t enjoy being tossed around by Hanzo in the dojo but his older brother’s skill is something he admires and strives to imitate.

The two of them scarf down bowls of ramen together after their training is finished for the day, and Hanzo watches over his shoulder while he plays games at the arcade. Sometimes he cheers Genji on, and sometimes he tears down his performance. After that they separate for the day, usually to hang out with friends or have dinner with father. Hanzo has loves of his own: Racing, kendo, and the son of one of one of their father's 'business' associates, Hajime.

 

Hanzo is selective about the company he keeps. His closest friends are three of their cousins: Tatsuhiro, Shin, and Ryujin. The four of them are a  _menace_ to the city below Hanamura, personally dedicated to extorting the businesses below for the clan. They take what they want and break what they want; Genji wants no part of anything to do with it, but the invitation is always open.

Hajime is a new addition to that group, which raises alarms. Local boys or cousins of like age who try to join the small group are always shut out quickly by his brother. He says he has all the friends he needs but welcomes Hajime to the group like it is nothing.

Genji  _really_  suspects something when Hanzo loses a kendo match to Hajime in front of the Elders and a few business associates. Hanzo bows respectfully and praises his opponent’s skill to the shock of all watching. His brother is a notoriously sore loser, prone to throwing down his shinai and storming off when a match doesn't turn in his favor.

Genji  _knows_ when he catches Hajime leaving Hanzo's room late at night, long hair tousled and his neck littered with bite marks and hickies. He keeps that to himself.

 

 **HS** : I just spoke with Hajime… He says you may have seen something, and I would like to explain myself.

 **GS** : lol dont worry brother.

 **GS** : i wont rat you out. im not a monster. besides...

 **GS** : both of us? what are the odds?

 **HS** : Both of us what?

 **GS** : :)

 **HS** : … Oh.

 

(The relationship ends two months later when Hanzo feels Hajime is too great a distraction. Genji rarely sees Hajime after that, but they never can seem to meet each other’s eyes when they do.)

 

**15.**

His brother spends three months pay and two months allowance on a sleek hovercycle with a custom design, patterned after Hanzo's tattoo. His brother polishes  _Stormcycle_ as lovingly as he does his blade and takes both into the city with him on Sundays.

He races with their cousins and other yakuza, looking out of place down in the city in his traditional clothes (he refuses any of the clothes Genji offers to let him borrow) but feeling incredible for the thrill. He come home in the twilight hours of the morning, scaling the outer walls carefully to sneak into the castle.

The elders forbid him, and _only_ him, from continuing to race. The others are free to do as they please but not Hanzo. They say it is too great a risk, especially in his _condition_ , and that _burns_ him. Hanzo doesn’t give it up easily, not when he finds racing and _winning_ so gratifying. It is all he has outside the clan, his only real tether to the outside world. He fights to be allowed that bit of freedom.

Hanzo comes home with a bridge piercing and their great uncle Nagato, an Elder, beats him until their father has to intervene. Genji helps a bleeding, barely conscious Hanzo back to his room.

Stormcycle is discarded in some storage room and Genji polishes it from time to time in the year following. He thinks of taking up riding himself but that would be so cruel when Hanzo can't bear to look at the bike or talk about racing.

 

Genji knows long before it happens that he will be forgotten like Hajime or discarded like Stormcycle.

 

**15.**

**GS** : hey hanzo :/ 

 **HS** : Whats up?

 **GS** : mmm, just this guy giving me a hard time at school

 **HS** : Want me to kill them?

 **GS** : what?? no!

 **GS** : this is why everyone thinks youre weird Hanzo. ://///

 **HS** : I was kidding!

 **GS** : see?? you are weird!

 

**15.**

**GS** : hey dad isnt 'genji' sort of strange?

 **SS** : Not the Genji I know!

 **GS** : father please.

 **SS** : Do you want to hear the story of how your mother and I decided to name you? It is quite the tale.

 **GS** : sorry father, something just came up!

 **SS** : Ah, yes! The ever disruptive ‘something’. Seems to rear its head whenever I have a story to tell.

 **SS** : I will regale the tale when you return home, my Sparrow. Do not stay out after dark.

 **GS** : yes sir, ill be home on time. bye father!

 

**15.**

Hanzo is, at best, cold to their father. He has no patience for stories and has an opinion to voice on every decision, more critical than even some of their partners. The Elders adore him for it: they are unsubtle about encouraging him to challenge their father.

One night the three of them are alone with a former associate guilty of passing information on their operations along to Overwatch. The damage done to profits for the year is not insignificant, and the Shimada clan does not forgive easily. The man is on his knees at his feet, whimpering loud enough for Genji to hear through the bag over his head.

Father commands Genji to kill him a second time but Genji is frozen in place. He _cannot_.

Hanzo moves quick as lightning, elbowing him aside and snatching the sword from his hands. He forces the katana through the man between his shoulder blades, impaling him. The sword is drawn out just as quickly.

“You will run me through before you force this on on my brother. He will do his part in time, when he is _ready_.” His voice is low and chin held high, eyes focused only on father. Hanzo holds the blade, dripping with fresh, viscous blood and offers the hilt to their father. The man at Genji’s feet gurgles and wheezes, dying at his feet. Genji is still frozen in place when Hanzo speaks forcefully, still offering the sword. “Do it then. Kill me!”

“Genji.” Father turns his gaze on him, rage barely contained. Red mist wafts from his arm, a sign of a dragon awakening. “Out! Out of my sight you fool child. I must _deal_ with your impudent brother.”

Genji is out of the room in a moment, running up the stairs out of the courtyard and down the castle’s corridors. His heart hammers in his chest, and truthfully he is not sure what the outcome of the confrontation will be. He hides in Hanzo’s room, wrapping himself in Hanzo’s comforter and closing his eyes. He can still hear the sound of the sword rending flesh and smell blood in the air.

 

Hanzo returns to his room an hour later, looking to comfort Genji despite his bruised face and shallow cuts on his arms. He perches on the edge of the bed and puts a grounding hand on Genji’s shoulder, offering comfort as best he can. Genji helps him treat and wrap his cuts in kind. Hanzo hardly seems bothered by his injuries, smug and gloating about holding his own against father. Neither of them need to address the dire risk involved standing up to an Elder in their family.

Genji is grateful to see his brother still lives.

**Author's Note:**

> nagisa and ryusei shimada are sojiro's parents.


End file.
